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    Yasmine Hafiz

    Yasmine Hafiz

    Associate Editor, Huffington Post Religion

  • Dominican Republic May Extradite Ex-Vatican Envoy To Try Him For Sex Abuse

    VATICAN CITY (RNS) Jozef Wesolowski, the ex-Vatican envoy stripped of diplomatic immunity after claims he sexually abused young boys in the Dominican Republic, may face a criminal trial in the Caribbean country. Francisco Dominguez Brito, the Dominican Republic’s attorney general, issued a statement saying it was “just and positive” for the Vatican to remove Wesolowski’s immunity and that the country would consider seeking the former archbishop’s extradition so he could stand trial there. “At this time extradition is an option.

  • Pope Francis' Letter To The Foley Family Joins Them In Mourning For James

    Upon learning about the murder of American journalist James Foley at the hands of the militant Islamic State, Pope Francis sent a letter to the Foley family expressing his deepest condolences. The call was described by a Vatican spokesman as "very long and intense," with Foley's parents saying that they drew "huge comfort" from their conversation. Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin sent the letter on behalf of Pope Francis on August 21.

  • The Strange Story Of The American Pastor Who Ministered To Nazis

    “That’s why I wanted to write this book,” Townsend said from Washington, D.C. where he is a senior writer and editor for The Pew Research Center. How, he asks, did he understand his role in leading the condemned Nazis to their deaths?

  • Cardinal Sparks Outrage In Sex Abuse Survivors With Tone-Deaf Analogy

    VATICAN CITY (RNS) One of the most powerful men in the Vatican, charged with cleaning up corruption and fostering financial reform, has outraged survivors of sex abuse by clergy by likening the church to a trucking company that refuses to take responsibility for a driver who molested women. Victim support groups expressed their anger this week after Pell gave video testimony from the Vatican to an Australian government inquiry looking into responses to child sex abuse by the Catholic Church and other institutions.

  • Mark Driscoll Slapped With Abusive Conduct Charges By 21 Former Pastors

    * “We believe that the way Pastor Mark leads has created a culture of fear instead of a culture of candor and safety. Mars Hill Church has attracted as many as 14,000 people at 15 locations across five states each Sunday. Mars Hill also canceled its October Resurgence Conference, which was to feature recently resigned board members Paul Tripp and James MacDonald as speakers.

  • All-Girl Hasidic Jewish Band Rocks Harder Than Anyone

    As observant Hasidic Jews, Dalia Shusterman and Perl Wolf never thought they'd be playing alt-rock music to a packed, all-female house at Arlene's Grocery in New York City's Lower East Side. The musical duo make up Bulletproof Stockings, a "Chassidic Alt Rock Girl Band" that's named for the tights traditionally worn by observant Hasidic Jewish women. Bulletproof Stockings spoke to The Huffington Post about their personal faith journeys, passion for music, and conviction that their performances empower women.

  • Pope Personally Calls Slain Journalist's Family To Offer Condolences

    The death of American journalist James Foley at the hands of the Islamic State has been mourned internationally since the tragic news broke. On Thursday, Pope Francis personally called Foley's grieving family in Rochester, New Hampshire, to "console them for their loss and assure them of his prayers," according to Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi. Foley's relatives were "deeply grateful and moved by the pope's gesture," reports NBC.

  • St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson Calls To 'Dismantle Systemic Racism' In Mass For Ferguson

    On Wednesday, the Archbishop of St. Louis, Robert Carlson, held a special mass for peace and justice in Ferguson as protestors continued to clash with police over the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.

  • Why Did Mars Hill Church Raise $3M And Then Quietly Cancel Their Jesus Festival?

    Mars Hill Church, based in Seattle, Washington, has been under intense scrutiny for the past few months, following the eruption of a variety of scandals around lead pastor Mark Driscoll. The evangelical church, founded in 1996, has claimed to have as many as 14,000 members. Now a new scandal appears to have emerged, according to Patheos blogger Warren Throckmorton and Mars Hill observer Wenatchee the Hatchet.

  • Church Sheltering Ferguson Protestors Reportedly Raided By County Police

    This has been updated with a statement from the St. Louis County Police Department. Greater St. Mark Family Church in St. Louis, Missouri was a safe haven for wounded protestors from nearby Ferguson demanding justice in the Michael Brown shooting. Reports from about 12:45pm on Twitter and Instagram stated that it had been raided by St. Louis County Police.

  • 'Muslims Condemning Things' Tumblr Answers A Question That Should Be Obvious

    The Islamic State, the militant group formerly known as ISIS, claims that it is restoring the Islamic Caliphate in an attempt to confer greater political and theological legitimacy on itself. Its violent actions, done in the name of an extreme version of Islam, have prompted international leaders and institutions like the Vatican to urge the world's Muslims to explicitly condemn the Islamic State. The description for the site reads, "People are always asking, 'Why don't Muslims condemn terrorism/fanaticism/violence in the name of Islam?' They do.

  • Pope Francis Thinks He May Only Live Two Or Three More Years

    77-year-old Pope Francis is one of the hardest-working world leaders, rarely taking breaks or vacations despite a punishing schedule. On his way back from a trip to Korea, Pope Francis told journalists aboard the papal plane that he is able to cope with his immense popularity because he knows that it will not last forever.

  • Martin Luther King Jr. With His Hands Up Demands An End To Violence

    The fatal shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson has outraged the nation, as "Hands up, don't shoot!" becomes the mantra of those protesting the unarmed teenager's death. The events in Ferguson show that the racial inequality that King fought to eradicate endures to this day, especially with regards to the disproportionate number of black men who are the victims of police violence.

  • Church Adopts 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' Prayer Position For Ferguson

    "Hands up, don't shoot" has become a rallying cry for those demanding justice for the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown at the hands of the Ferguson, Missouri, police. The gesture of surrender is also an affirmation of humanity and innocence.

  • Here's How You Can Fight Anti-Semitic Hate Speech Online

    BERLIN (RNS) It’s been 17 years since Suzette Bronkhorst co-founded the Dutch Complaints Bureau for Discrimination on the Internet, but she said she doesn’t remember the level of anti-Semitic speech on social media platforms ever being this high. “There are thousands of incidents and we’re getting so many complaints,” she said of her organization, which registers complaints of hate speech online. The Gaza conflict, which has led to the deaths of 1,900 Palestinians and 68 Israelis, has also sparked a wave of counter speech, with organizations like Bronkhorst’s attempting to tackle hate speech by debunking myths and stereotypes on blogs, forums and social media.

  • Laugh Factory Marquee: 'Make God Laugh'

    As the world grieves over the incomparable loss of comic genius Robin Williams, some people are hoping that his untimely death won't mean that he's finished provoking laughs. This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

  • Vatican Urges Muslim Leaders To Condemn The Islamic State's 'Barbarity'

    The unspeakable crimes committed by the Islamic State, a self-identified Sunni militant group formerly known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) or ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) get worse every day. Beheadings, stonings, live burials, and crucifixions are all tactics used by the extremists as they attempt to wipe out Iraq and Syria's minority religious groups, like the Yazidis and the Shiites. As the Islamic State claims to be waging war in the name of Islam, with the end goal of restoring the Islamic Caliphate, it is up to Muslim leaders to denounce their actions and reject any sort of religious justification for the horrors they have wrought in Iraq and Syria. Iyad Ameen Madani, the Secretary General for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation called the actions of the Islamic State a "crime that cannot be tolerated" in July.

  • More Bad News For Megapastor Mark Driscoll

    Leaders at the Southern Baptist Convention’s LifeWay Christian Resources, informed stores on Friday to stop selling books by the Seattle pastor who has been in hot water. The mushrooming set of allegations led the publishing arm to suspend sales while it “monitors the developments of his ministry,” said LifeWay media relations manager Marty King. Blogger Warren Throckmorton, who broke the news, has also reported allegations from former ministers that Driscoll publicly asked their wives about their favorite sexual position.

  • Arizona And Delaware's Second-Largest Religion May Surprise You

    Christianity is the largest religion in every American state, but a look at the second-largest religion in every state reveals a more diverse picture. Hinduism is the second-largest faith in two states, and the Baha'i faith in just one. Arizona and Delaware are the two states where Hinduism is the second most-practiced faith, based on a 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations and Membership Study.

  • Ebola Is A Curse From God, Some African Christian Leaders Say

    NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) As Western nations evacuate their citizens from West Africa’s growing Ebola outbreak, some Christian leaders have begun to speak of the virus as a curse from God. On Friday (August 8), the World Health Organization declared the Ebola crisis ravaging the region an international health emergency. On the same day, Nigeria became the latest country in West Africa to declare the virus crisis a national emergency, the day after Spain evacuated a priest and a nun from Liberia to Madrid.